The Ferguson Recipes – Recipes, Plain & Simple
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The Ferguson Recipes – Recipes, Plain & Simple
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🌅 Recipe Of The Day! 🌇
🖨 🖨
Viet-Cajun Crawfish Boil
Viet-Cajun Crawfish Boil
{Serving suggestion only*}
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Savor the culinary evolution of Viet-Cajun crawfish, where freshly-boiled shellfish meets garlic butter, lemongrass, and traditional Cajun seasonings. This Gulf Coast delicacy emerged from Vietnamese refugee communities in the 1970s, gaining popularity after Hurricane Katrina prompted westward migration. The resulting flavor explosion of butter-drenched crawfish with aromatic herbs creates an unforgettable seafood experience worth getting your hands messy for.
No Jump Zone
Ingredients
Crawfish Boil
2 1/2 gallons water
1 1/2 cups Old Bay Seasoning or Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil
1/2 cup fish sauce
2 lemongrass stalks, smashed
2 lemons, halved
2 heads garlic, halved horizontally
3/4 cup kosher salt, divided
2 pounds small red potatoes
6 pounds live crawfish, cleaned

(continued in the next column ↗️)

3 ears fresh corn, halved
Butter Sauce
2 cups (1 lb.) unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons very finely chopped lemongrass
1/2 cup chopped garlic (from 16 cloves or 1 large head)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cayenne
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Additional Ingredient
1/2 bunch cilantro sprigs
Directions

Prepare the crawfish boil:

Place water, Old Bay, fish sauce, lemongrass, lemons, garlic, and ¼ cup of the salt in a large stockpot.
Cover and bring to a boil over high.
Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes.
Add potatoes, and cook until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add remaining ½ cup salt.
Increase heat to high, and bring to a rolling boil.
Add crawfish and corn; boil until crawfish are bright red, about 8 minutes.
Remove from heat, and let stand 15 minutes.

Prepare the butter sauce:

Heat ¼ cup butter in a stainless steel saucepan over medium-high heat until foamy.
Add lemongrass; sauté 4 to 5 minutes or until very soft, stirring very frequently.
Add remaining butter, garlic, salt, and cayenne.
Cook until butter is melted and garlic is just softened, 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.
Cover to keep warm.

Finish:

Drain crawfish mixture.
Discard garlic, lemons, and lemongrass.
Place crawfish, corn, and potatoes in a huge bowl.
Toss with half of the butter sauce and cilantro; serve with remaining sauce.

Servings\Yield
Serves 6
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Per Serving - Calories: 580; Total Fat: 40g (Saturated Fat: 21g); Cholesterol: 290mg; Sodium: 1720mg; Total Carbohydrates: 32g (Dietary Fiber: 3g, Sugars: 3g); Protein: 28g
*Nutrition information is provided as a general estimate only. Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients, and is based on available nutrient data. Variations may occur based on ingredient brands and preparation methods.
💬 Uncle Dave says...
Viet-Cajun crawfish is made by coating freshly-boiled crawfish in garlic butter before tossing it with Cajun seasonings, lemongrass, and ginger. Vietnamese influences on traditional Cajun crawfish originated with the Indochinese Assistance and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975, which resettled 130,000 Vietnamese refugees to the United States, many to the Gulf Coast. Following westward migration in part catalyzed by Hurricane Katrina, Viet-Cajun crawfish restaurants began opening in Houston in the early 2000s.
Learn more about the politics of Viet-Cajun Crawfish Boil from The Politics of Cuisine on Instagram.
Recipe from here.
🧑‍🍳 The Cook:  Dave Ferguson 🔑 Keywords: POC, Asian, crawfish, Vietnamese, Cajun
🗂️ Categories: 🥡 Asian Food, 🐟 Fish & Seafood
📚 Collections: The Politics of Cuisine, The TFR Cookbook
Viet-Cajun Crawfish Boil was added on October 06, 2022 and last updated on April 25, 2025.
*Serving suggestion only. 😂 If a food photo doesn't look like it was taken by a monkey named Frank, it was most likely AI generated and not the result of Frank's minimal culinary or photographic skills. Unless you failed the "I'm not a robot" test, your recipes will probably not look like the ones in the pictures. See Creamy Turkey Veggie Soup to read more about AI images.
📄 A Quick Note About The Recipes At The Ferguson Recipes: We love sharing recipes, but please be aware that most haven't been professionally tested in our kitchen or independantly verified. Your safety is important to us, so always practice safe food handling and cooking techniques. Cook smart and use your best judgment! Eggs: If you make a recipe that uses raw eggs, please consider using pasteurized eggs. Allergens: Food allergens have not been identified in each individual recipe. Please use caution if you have any food allergies. Have questions about a specific recipe? Feel free to reach out to us.
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👋 Welcome! 👋

When I started The Ferguson Recipes in 2006, my main goal was to create a place where I could collect and present our favorite family recipes in an orderly fashion, without all of the distractions of other recipe sites.

At The Ferguson Recipes you will find recipes, plain and simple, just like the recipe cards you have crammed into that well-worn binder of your family's most beloved recipes.

Many of the recipes included here are Ferguson family favorites passed down through the years. Many more are recipes we have gotten from friends or shamelessly "liberated" from other recipe sites. And a lot of the recipes are from recipe collections which family members have participated in creating, such as "Cooking with Carl, Hugh and your Friends", "Cooking With Cow", "The Sears Sun Cookbook", and more!

Things you WILL and WON’T find at The Ferguson Recipes:
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Thanks for visiting The Ferguson Recipes,
Uncle Dave - 8/13/18 (A Palindrome Date) - Updated: 06/29/25

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Yes, many...most...of our food images are AI created. They all faithfully represent the recipe they're attached to. We make no aplogies. Probably 90% of the food images you see in recipes and on food packages are professional food photographs, not something edible that someone actually just cooked. We just skipped the styling and photographer costs by using AI. And we pass the savings on to you. Hahahaha! That's funny because this site is free! 😂😂😂😂😂
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ℹ️ About TFR: Click me to learn more about The Ferguson Recipes!
🏛️ Founded April 13, 2006
©️ 2006 - 2026 fergusonrecipes.com
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📄Recipe Disclaimer: While The Ferguson Recipes strives to present reliable and delicious recipes, please note that most of the recipes on this site have not undergone rigorous testing or independent verification. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you always follow standard food safety guidelines when preparing any dish. Eggs: If you make a recipe that uses raw eggs, please consider using pasteurized eggs. Allergens: Food allergens have not been identified in each individual recipe. Please use caution if you have any food allergies. If you have any questions or concerns about a specific recipe, please feel free to contact us.
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